Estrogens and Antiestrogens I: Physiology and Mechanisms of Action of Estrogens and Antiestrogens

by Michael Oettel (Editor), Ekkehard Schillinger (Editor)

Overview

For many years, Springer has been publishing an impressive series of textbooks of pharmacology which have set standards in medical science. Surprisingly, an extensive overview of the current state of the art in research on estrogens and anti estrogens was still lacking. The present two volumes on estrogens and antiestrogens provide a comprehensive review of a field of research in which remarkable progress has been made over the past few years. New insights into the mechanisms of steroid hormone action resulted in a tremendous number of publications from which new principles of preventive and therapeutic applications of estrogens and antiestrogens emerged. Although various electronic data bases provide easy access to this copious information, there was a clear necessity for a monograph-style textbook which assesses and summarizes current knowledge in this rapidly expanding field of research. It should be noted, however, that, due to this dynamic development, it is barely possible to comprehensively update every aspect of basic and clinical knowledge on estro­ gens and antiestrogens. Thus, the intention of the editors was to provide the reader with an overview of the "classic" and most recently explored areas of research and stimulate future interests in basic and applied endocrinology. Estrogens were among the first steroid hormones described in the scientific literature. Since they were first isolated, since the chemical, synthesic and pharmacological characterization of naturally occurring estrogens and, later on, of orally active derivatives, estrogen research has produced continu­ ously hallmark results in reproductive endocrinology worldwide.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783642636677
Publisher:	Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Publication date:	10/16/2012
Series:	Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology , #1
Edition description:	Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 1999
Pages:	409
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.04(d)

Table of Contents

History of Estrogen Research.- 1 History of Estrogen Research.- 1: Chemistry of Estrogens and Antiestrogens.- 2 Steroidal Estrogens.- 3 Non-steroidal Estrogens.- 4 Antiestrogens and Partial Agonists.- 5 Structure — Activity Relationships.- 2: Molecular Biology of Estrogenic Action.- 6 Structure and Function of the Estrogen Receptor.- 7 Estrogen-Regulated Genes.- 8 Regulation of Constitutive and Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase by Estrogen.- 9 Non-Genomic Effects of Estrogens.- 10 Molecular Mechanisms of Antiestrogen Action.- 3: Biosynthesis and Metabolism of Endogenous Estrogens.- 11 Estrogen Transforming Enzymes.- 12 Metabolism of Endogenous Estrogens.- 4: Physiology and Pathophysiology of Estrogens.- 13 Phylogeny of Estrogen Synthesis, Extragenital Distribution of Estrogen Receptors and Their Development Role.- 14 Female Reproductive Tract.- 15 Estrogen and Brain Function: Implications for Aging and Dementia.- 16 Cardiovascular System.- 17 Immune System.- 18 Male Reproductive function.- 19 The Effect of Estrogens and Antiestrogens on the Urogenital Tract.- 20 Effects of Estrogens on Various Endocrine Regulations.

Editorial Reviews

This monograph-style textbook, from the Springer series "Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology," is up-to-date and the editors provide readers with a comprehensive, well edited (although multiauthored), review of recent and past estrogen research. The editors and the contributors from both sides of the Atlantic have succeeded in providing the reader with a much-needed overview on the current state-of-the-art on estrogen/antiestrogen/estrogen receptor research. A book of this nature is certainly overdue, given the growing clinical importance of hormone replacement and anti-estrogen therapy including the development of "designer estrogens," termed SERMs (selective estrogen receptor modulators). The accelerated path by which scientific data have accumulated in these fields has made it difficult even for the endocrinologist to keep up with the array of new developments over the last years. This book will be of value for the endocrinologist in practice, for any library of an academic or research institute, as well as for endocrine fellows who are developing an interest in this field. The structure of this textbook allows the interested reader to fill in knowledge gaps quickly and allows investigators to have a glimpse into interrelated aspects of estrogen research far beyond the traditional reproductive topics. The book is well written and the contributors make an effort to describe particularly well the structure and synthesis of estrogen compounds and their clinical relevance, which are issues usually difficult to understand. The chapters on the molecular basis of estrogen and antiestrogen actions are excellent and provide important background information, especially for the clinicianinterested in this topic. In addition, chapters dedicated to estrogen effects on various tissues, organ systems, and clinical entities are equally well represented and written. The references are up-to-date and the book is, in most cases. well illustrated. A weakness of some chapters is that they would have benefited from the addition of illustrations. This is an excellent book on estrogens and antiestrogens in which the editors and contributors provide readers with a tremendous font of knowledge.

Michael Karl